Biden's secret Ukraine trip: inside the story

Yesterday morning, Biden secretly flew out of Washington on a flight that made a much smaller impact than usual for a president. Until last night, the White House said Biden would go to Poland for a speech on the anniversary of the invasion on Monday.

There were several aides in the White House, Pentagon, Secret Service, and intel community who reviewed threat assessments before the trip, according to White House aides.

JAKE SULLIVAN, the national security advisor, said this morning that Russia got a heads-up about Biden's visit "for deconfliction purposes.”

The trip is almost certain to get a reaction from Moscow. WSJ says, "Biden's visit... comes as China's top diplomat, WANG YI, is on his way to Moscow for talks about the Ukraine war." On Tuesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin will counter Biden's message in Poland with a major national address."

“ Mr. Biden arrived in Ukraine’s capital at a pivotal moment of the war, both at home and abroad. Some of America’s staunchest allies have pressured Ukraine to start negotiating a peace deal that might involve giving up territory to Russia. The new House speaker, KEVIN McCARTHY, along with some of his Republican colleagues, wants to stop giving the war effort a blank check. "Despite our disagreements in Congress on some issues, there's a lot of support for Ukraine," Biden said.

Biden said ‘Putin thought Ukraine was weak and the West was divided.’ He’s counting on us not sticking together. He was counting on us not being able to keep Nato together. He was counting on us not being able to bring in others on Ukraine's side. He thought he could outlast us. Right now, I don't think he's thinking that."

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